August 19, 2013

Song of Summer #24: Baby I

I am the last person to expect a song by one of those Disney / Nickelodeon kids to bowl me over. Ariana Grande (can that name be real?) got her start on a kids show called Victorious. Despite this fact, she can sing and this track has true pop bona fides. Baby I was written and produced by Babyface; it screams Mariah Carey in 1990... you hear it?

Uh oh, usually I'm there with you, but found myself hitting "stop" after a minute. A voice raised on Mariah and Christina with a whole lotta notes tied to a bland song. Obviously gonna be huge due to the amount of comments, but there seems to be a general lack of anything original or something like a personality. If she IS a Disney teen, why does she sound like a 40-year old sexpot? Let girls be girls, I say! Maybe I'm just being scrooge-y today. Oh baby, my baby, you baby, we baby, baby, baby, baby...et al...

Alright, I was just listening to some of the new Ellie Goulding. How old is she, because she could pass for 17. This girl just seems like the latest in a parade of Jessy J, Rita Ora, Cher Lloyd, and any other interchangeable British pop hopefuls. Cue the moment where I finally just don't get it...

Speaking of Ellie Goulding, while I generally like her music, don't you think she sometimes sounds like a female chipmunk? Is that her real voice?

Ellie's second album wasn't bad, it just didn't have big hits (much). If she was going to release as many songs as she has, she should have just done another album. Rihanna does it every year, right? Too much of the music, however, is just far too processed and lacks much uniqueness or charm. Maybe La Roux is smart for watching all these other hopefuls burn out while they release absolutely nothing.